The present invention relates to splints for immobilizing injured body members, and particularly to an improved splint that can be shaped to support a patient's hand, wrist, and forearm in comfort.
Splints for use in emergency and post-operative situations are known, for example, from Scheinberg, U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,233 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,943,923, both of which teach the use of a soft metal sheet formed into a configuration that provides needed support for an injured limb. Bentele U.S. Pat. No. 4,161,175 discloses surgical splints incorporating formed sheet metal or molded plastic bases. Ender U.S. Pat. No. 4,549,537 discloses another splint based on the use of sheet aluminum material. Bolla et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,039,706 discloses a splint using a sheet of corrugated metal as its principal supporting structure.
Health care professionals have long used splints and casts fashioned out of plaster, fiberglass, preformed metal, or molded thermoplastic materials. These splints are designed to rigidly prevent motion and once formed into position cannot be reformed, for example to accommodate swelling, without considerable difficulty. A plastic or fiberglass splint once cured cannot be reformed. If swelling is excessive, a new fiberglass or plaster splint must be applied or an instrument resembling a large pliers (often referred to as a cast bender) is used to break the plaster or fiberglass material in order to relieve the pressure caused by the swelling. A thermoplastic splint is usually rigid and requires heat in order to be reformed. Preformed metal splints are also quite rigid and difficult to bend or mold. None of the above mentioned splints once formed allow a patient to perform any significant active movement or provide variably controlled active movement.
Active movement in a joint is movement performed by the patient as opposed to passive movement, i.e., movement performed by a physical therapist. Controlled variable active movement is active movement that can be increased or decreased according to the desire of the treating health professional. For example, it is desirable for orthopedic surgeons to vary a patient's allowable active movement during a post-operative convalescent period—i.e., the surgeon might desire less active movement during the first post-operative week and greater movement during the second post-operative week. Today, active movement is thought to be of significant value in the rehabilitation and treatment of fractures and soft tissue conditions. For example, following an open reduction and internal fixation of a distal radial (wrist) fracture orthopedic surgeons frequently direct their patients to remove their splints several times a day for active range of motion exercises. When these splints are removed patients are at increased risk of sustaining an injury. Therefore, it is desirable, to have not only an easily formable splint to accommodate post injury swelling, but a splint capable of allowing variable degrees of active movement while remaining in place.